


Grey Institution For The Mentally Ill

by DatingSimProtagonist



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mental Institution, Dissociative States, Grimmons, M/M, Multiple Personality Disorder, My First Work in This Fandom, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Drugs, Spoilers if you squint, Tuckington - Freeform, churboose - Freeform, im so sorry, lolix, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-19 13:04:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatingSimProtagonist/pseuds/DatingSimProtagonist
Summary: The Gray institution for the Mentally Ill has always had rumours surrounding it, and Dylan Andrews was going to find out what was really going on, and help the poor souls stuck inside.(TW's at the top of each chapter)





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, this fanfic is going to be filled with a LOT of dark topics, and a lot of in depth look into different mental illnesses.  
> There are no Trigger Warnings for this chapter

"Good Evening. My name is Dylan Andrews and today we're going to be looking at The Grey institution for the mentally ill. The institute named after its founder and current owner, Emily Grey, is a practically unheard name unless, of course, you are one of the few who live in the small town of Blood Gulch, with a population of only 1200 people, the town finds its entertainment in stories like the one that I personally, will be investigating over the next few weeks. With the help of my camera man Jax Jonez, i am going to be taking an in-depth look into the goings on right here at the Grey institution, in an attempt to expose alleged abuse claims and find out if this is just a ghost story or if there really is something going on in the sleepy suburbs... There. How was it? Did you get all that?"  
"Get all what? I already knew what we were doing, why did you just repeat it all?"  
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE RECORDING!" Dylan sighed, her head in her hands, "come on, if we get this done right Carlos will HAVE to give us our jobs back, I know somethings going on here, I feel it, something really just isn't right and if we're the faces that expose it, we'll be famous. It's the story of the year and no one else is looking into it so let's try this again, this is too big of a chance to miss."

* * *

 

"housing only a few patients, The Grey institution is famous for many 'ghost' stories surrounding the area. Murderers, Criminals and escaped patients, over this short period of time, we'll be seeing how many of them are actually fact and how many remain tales to scare the children of the town. Sister to Dexter Grif, a man who supposedly works inside the building itself, we have Kaikaina Griff who has agreed to an exclusive interview before we go inside the building's walls ourselves, so Kaikaina-"  
"Wait" the Hawaiian woman interrupted and looked around. Yes, she'd agreed to talk to these people but... "Why are we in a grave yard? I thought you wanted to talk to me about my brother"  
"I do, we're here because- actually that's a really good question, Jax stop recording. why are we here?"  
"Because you agreed, if I pretend to be crazy-" Jax started, still trying to find the perfect lighting for the pair  
"I promise you it won't take much pretending..." Dylan muttered, once again finding her face in her hands  
"-then I could pick how we do this. so let's keep rolling! this is the perfect picture"  
"Fine... So Kaikaina. How long has your brother worked inside this horror story of a building?"  
"Abouuuuut damn, 10 years? Right when the place opened he got an internship or something there. I'm surprised they haven't fired him yet. From what I hear all he does all day is nap, I'm trying to see if I can get a job there, some of those guys seem crazy and I love it"  
Dylan internally thanked whatever gods there were for editing software, "An internship? Was he trained properly to take care of everyone there? That seems like a lot of hard work, but you don't seem to think your brother is taking proper care of the patients there?"  
"Training? No way, he's way too lazy for that, he says easy money, you don't need to train to sit around all day do you? he talks about one of the crazies a lot but I don't really listen." She shrugged  
"Thank you for your time Miss Grif, I'm sure I'll see you in the future for a few more questions but for now that's all I need"  
"...Are you sure? you only asked me like one thing. usually you camera people are like 'Whats your name? How old are you? Is this your first time?' but you're just asking me about my brother"  
"What?... well... uh... no, this is all I need for now..."  
"Fine. see you around I guess" She shrugged Dylan didn't watch as she left, how had she made it in this career? If this was the town's version of normal, what on earth was she going to find inside?  
"Jax keep rolling" She muttered as she looked at the camera, collecting herself, "...And there was our first insight into the happenings at The Grey Institution for the Mentally Ill, toxically untrained, unprofessional and perhaps even abusive staff members 'taking care' of their patients, Let us hope that what else we find gets no worse. In order to get a more in-depth view on what goes on inside the walls of the Facility for the next few weeks, my camera man Jax Jones, will be posing as a patient, in the hopes that we can help the poor souls being allegedly mistreated inside and bring an end to this corruption... and that's a wrap. Let's go get some dinner before we move on, I'm starving"  
"this gave me an amazing idea for a movie!" Jax beamed  
"Don't... I still have your last 'amazing idea' lodged in my brain like a stupidity bullet..."

* * *

 

"Here we are. The Grey institution Stands right behind me and believe me when I say, I can only hope that it is less run down on the inside. As you can see, around us we have piles of bags full of trash, the grounds appear as though they have been untouched and unused for anything more than cheap disposal, I am starting to wonder if those inside are ever allowed out and if they are, how safe it would be to be surrounded by garbage. The sign above the entrance reads little more than TE GRY STUT due to fallen letters and the rest of the area seems little better."  
"Very dramatic" Jax smiled, doing his best to capture the broken sign "I'm gonna get a few more shots of the place before we go in"  
"Fine, but make sure you don't get seen" Dylan nodded and followed him around, not that she thought there would be guards to keep an eye on the place. The building itself was huge, and for somewhere which supposedly held less than 15 patients, one would automatically assume they lived in some kind of minor luxury, or you would if the outside wasn't smashed and broken.  
"I have another movie idea"  
"don't"  
Surrounding the building was a large broken stone wall almost invisible through vines and plants growing over it, at the front, an iron gate, engraved with the initials EGI. Dylan half stumbled over a large rock once used on the wall and marveled at how hidden its disrepair was thanks to the overgrowth.  
"I guess even nature wants to keep people out..."  
"Wait." Jax interrupted, "say that again slowly in a second, that's going to make for an AWESOME shot!" Jax smiled though before Dylan could reply they were interrupted by a high pitched voice.

"Now who do we have here?"


	2. The Beginning Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> Bipolar Disorder  
> Faking a Mental Illness (Bipolar Disorder)  
> That's it I think....  
> Enjoy.

There was silence for a short second before Dylan finally turned around, not surprised to be met, face to face, with a tan woman with long black hair, tied up behind in a bun, rather playfully tinted with long purple streaks. 'How very professional...' Dylan judged, immediately identifying the woman as Emily grey, the owner of the building. She quickly collected herself and internally prayed to whatever god there was above that the woman had not heard any of their previous conversation, God forbid their investigation end before it even began.  
"Hello. My name is Dylan Andrews" She said honestly, her name wasn't big enough to have reached the small town. Then again, it wasn't big enough to reach anyone, which is why she really needed this story... "I heard this place would be helpful. My little brother desperately needs help" She stepped aside and gestured to Jax who thankfully was looking as dimwitted as ever, he wasn't holding his camera to which Dylan was thankful. As a thank you, she'd come looking for it once Jax was inside.  
"Oh?" Miss Greys voice made Dylan shiver with every syllable, it was high pitched and she sounded over excited, making Dylan hope she just always sounded like that, "Then let's go inside and we'll talk"  
'I guess this means she didn't hear us talking?' Dylan questioned herself, and though she was still tense, she nodded with a polite "Thank you" and followed Emily into the building, taking Jax's hand as she did. "Come on 'little brother'"  
The outside of the building reflected apparently nothing of the inside, the entrance way was well lit and actually rather nice, much to Dylan's dismay. She wasn't going to get anything report worthy in there. The floor was a crisp white tile causing each step to echo around the room professionally and in almost every corner there was a camera keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the institution  
A large, wooden, reception desk sat unmanned just a few feet inside and Dylan let slip a curious "I'm glad we ran into you considering no one is here"  
"Oh don't worry" returned that shrill voice, "My receptionist has simply gone to the bathroom, I'm sure he'll be back soon"  
Dylan simply nodded as she dragged Jax along with her to the spacious office of Doctor Emily Grey. It was large and carpeted and stunningly clean, with only a small monitor on a desk, surrounded by 3 chairs.  
"Please, take a seat. We'll talk about your brother" Emily herself took the seat closest to the computer, which meant that now neither of the pair could see the screen. "So, tell me again why you think he should be at my facility, I don't mean to assume but he seems rather safe in your hands"  
"My brother suffers from severe bipolar disorder. I've actually tried coming here several times to try and find him help but I've always caught him in a terrible mood. For yours, his and my own safety, I figured while he was somewhat calm would be the best time"  
"Hmm... I don't have one of those yet..."  
"I'm sorry?"  
"Oh, nothing, just double checking inventory, I'm listening don't worry. Miss Andrews, you do know that Bipolar disorder is usually no reason for sectioning, especially in a remote place like this."  
"I know, I've spoken to his psychiatrist, and she recommended a new beginning several months ago, which is why we found ourselves out here. But it doesn't seem to have helped and he can get violent, so much so that I get scared for my family. It's at the point where I'm the only one willing to take care of him, but I know he will get much more help here, he has to."  
Jax wasn't even sure what was going on, luckily the blank look on his face as he half tried to follow what was happening was only helping their case.  
"Hmm... well, I'm afraid I can't take your brother until you have a signed recommendation letter from a psychiatrist, including a complete psychiatric review."  
"I have those right here" Dylan smiled as she held out the papers hidden inside a small brown folder. All of the information was fake of course, it was amazing what you could counterfeit with modern technology.  
Emily spent the next 20 minutes combing through them, smiling at some points, frowning at others. Dylan was about to ask how much longer this would take before the other woman smiled, "This all looks good." she seemed to catch herself, "Well, not 'good' good, but enough to warrant your brother at least a trial stay here to see how much we can help."  
"really?" Dylan had definitely done her research but was still surprised everything was perfectly up to par...  
"Yup, now, our only other major issue is payment."  
"I can pay anything you need me too, all of my details are included in those papers.Money isn't an issue." It was, in fact, a rather large issue. However, Dylan would do anything for this story.  
"Perfect. If you could just sign these then we should be sorted." Emily slid over a stack of forms and Dylan had to forcefully stop smiling.  
They were in!  
Step one was complete. Step onto step 2. Get files from Emily's Computer.  
Deciding to keep going with the good luck they appeared to be having, Dylan was hoping step 2 could be completed just as easily, all she needed was a little bit of time alone in this room.  
"Miss Emily-" She started, reading carefully every word on the papers she signed.  
"Doctor. I didn't get my degree for nothing" Emily corrected her quickly, her voice never leaving that overly excited tone.  
"Of course, Doctor. I was hoping I would be able to look around this place first. After all, I wouldn't want to leave my brother without knowing what this place is like."  
"Ah" The doctor smiled and it made Dylan feel a little sick, "Of course. when you're ready we can go"  
Dylan quickly nodded and signed the rest of the papers before they all got up.  
They were led out of the doctor's office and down a rather pristine hallway, once more Dylan was disappointed, she needed to find a scandal or this was all for nothing!  
"Each of our patients gets treatment specified to each of them individually, and I can promise that your brother will get the same perfect treatment. With only a few patients here, it means we can help everybody personally, unlike larger institutions."  
Dylan nodded as she looked around.  
"Youll be able to visit your brother as often as you'd like, although we do really prefer if you call ahead, that way you don't interrupt any treatment that might render your brother sedated, sleepy or busy with any other medical responsibilities."  
"Of course. Call ahead. Got it."  
"Are there any days soon you plan on coming to visit? That way we can make sure your brother is in a fit condition to interact socially"  
"Let me check my work calendar" She internally lit up, seeing the opportunity to be alone with her computer. "Ah wait. I think I left my phone in your office" She said, if she could go back by herself, she'd get at least a few minutes.  
"Ah, don't worry. we'll go bac-"  
"Don't worry, ill only be a second?" Dylan said before the doctor could suggest coming back with her, "Stay here Jax" She said as she ran back, attempting to find her way to the office, glad to see no one following. It was strange, the entire time she had been here she hadn't seen any staff members... no one apart from Emily.  
She got into the dark room and flicked on the lights, walking over to the desk, not even risking sitting in Emily's chair as her hearing quadrupled in sensitivity. Inserting her flash drive into the computer, she searched through files and files to do with the facility, uploading everything she could to her drive, employee files, patient files, work reviews and inventory, everything down to the lunch menu. Her eyes occasionally fixed on her watch as the seconds passed, wondering when the pair would come looking for her, and hoping the last of the information would be loaded up before they came.

Footsteps.  
'Shit... come on, come on, almost done' she felt her body tense even more as the footsteps grew louder. She was almost done... So close...  
97%...  
"Miss Andrews? are you here?" The voice came from outside the room and Dylan's internal clock estimated about 4 seconds before she came in.  
'come on... come on.... come on!!!'  
98%...  
"Dylan?" Jax's voice called out and she cursed him, why not try to distract her!?!  
'come on Jax...'  
99%...  
The door opened, and Emily looked in to find Dylan stood by the chair Jax had sat in before, as far from the computer as she probably could be, "I guess I left it in my car or something. It isn't here, sorry for wasting your time" was all she said as they headed out again, thankfully without question.

'Got it.'

* * *

 

The tour, continued as they walked down the hallways, though not a sound from any other inmate was heard.  
"This place seems pretty empty" Dylan noted, looking around her  
"Yes, all of my current patients are at lunch, and the staff are supervising them."  
"They eat together? Is that safe?"  
"Don't worry, they are watched very carefully and the social aspect has a good effect on them, I'm sure your brother will actually grow to be good friends with many of them." She smiled. Dylan wasn't reassured. "I would show you now, though it's usually best to keep new visitors away from the easily spooked ones. I'm sure you'll see the room in the future"  
The doctor stopped and after another step or two so did the journalists. "Here is where you will be staying" she looked to Jax and gestured to a room. It was large, the walls weren't padded per say, but they were surprisingly soft, though the floor was tile. Inside was a bed, it was bigger than Dylans at home, and she wasn't surprised to see a look of happiness, one which resembled the face of a puppy whose owner had just returned, on Jax's face. "We do our best to make you as comfortable as possible, of course, some things can't be allowed into personal quarters for safety reasons, especially in early days, but if there's anything we can do, please let us know and we will do everything we can to help you."  
This whole place was starting to seem more like a resort than a mental hospital, on the surface it seemed to be almost perfect, and Dylan was starting to see why no body had ever tried to investigate before, but she knew there was something going on. She felt it. Or maybe she just didn't want this whole thing to be a complete waste of time.  
Most likely the latter.  
"I'll give you two a moment of privacy for your goodbyes, though of course, you're welcome to visit whenever you wish Miss Andrews, and we can get started"  
"Wait, goodbye now?"  
"Of course, we can get started on treatments as soon as possible. I will be back in a moment so say all you must" she smiled and walked off somewhere Dylan couldn't identify just from looks before anyone could ask any more questions.  
Dylan and Jax stayed in silence for a full 60 seconds...  
"So...?"  
"Sh... I need to make sure she's far away enough for us to talk without her hearing..."  
"Oooh."  
Another 30 seconds of silence...  
"I think she's gone..."  
"...Fine. Do you remember everything we went over?"  
"Yup. Tiny camera to record everything I find in a contact lens." he winked with his left eye twice to emphasize his point. "Earpiece to listen to you even though you won't be here and remember anything story worthy!"  
"Good. Also, remember, you have bipolar disorder. I need you to have mood swings all the time. get depressed, overjoyed, violent. Punch someone if you have to. And be lazy. I know you're good at that one."  
"Isn't that a little... stereotypical?"  
"Yeah, and everyone whos bipolar can get mad at me later. But right now we need to expose this place for what it truly is..."  
"It seems quite nice to me."  
"Are you two done?" And for the final time that day, that shrill voice interrupted their conversation once more.  
"Yes. Goodbye Jax. I'll visit soon, and be I'm for Doctor Grey."  
"Goodbye big sis" Jax went in for a hug but Dylan dodged it effortlessly.  
"I'll walk myself out" Dylan nodded and thanked Emily once more before heading out, doing her best to hide a triumphant smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you guys like reading this, but I really have a lot of fun writing it. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time.  
> Please don't expect me to update this every day. I just had time today to do so but I'm in college soon so I won't be able to update it super frequently. Though comments really do motivate creators to work, so if you have anything to write, anything at all, please do.  
> p.s personally this chapter moved a little too fast for me, and I kinda wish I spent more time on it, though I really want to move on to the main part of the story. What do you guys think?


	3. The Beginning Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: pretty much same as the last chapter  
> Bipolar Disorder  
> Faking a Mental Illness  
> Psychological Evaluations  
> OOC Washington?

It was perhaps just a little cliche for Dylan to be hauled up in a dark room, the only source lighting up her face being that which escaped the screen of her laptop as she searched through her newly found prize coming in the form of as many files as she could get from Emily Grey's computer.  
She'd left Jax almost 24 hours ago, and after a small sigh from finding nothing scandal worthy- apparently the patients there were fed exponentially well and everything else she'd been digging through was just simple maintenance- she decided to take something of a break and check in with him. She kept her laptop by the side in case she needed to quickly type down anything that had been happening, and god she hoped something had happened because she was not going to have wasted all this time and money on nothing.  
"Jax" she whispered into a small headset connected to the earpiece her camera man wore. "Are you there?"  
"Dylan?!" She had to forcibly stop herself from sighing when she heard his shout  
"Stop shouting you, idiot! Someones going to hear."  
It seemed to take Jax a few seconds to recall the earpiece, rather than just assuming she was in the room with him, but at least for those few seconds, he was quiet. "Oh, got it! Maybe we should come up with code names or-"  
"Shut up." She returned flatly, at one point she had thought she'd gotten used to working with this man child. Apparently not. "I'm just checking in, I need to know everything that's happened since you've been there. Do you have time to talk?"  
"Yeh I have a bit of time, and I've been recording this whole time, though I can't say much about the lighting I just-"  
"For crying out loud, I don't care about the lighting, just tell me whats happened!"  
"...Fine."

* * *

 

The second Dylan had headed out of the institute, Jax was happy to make his home in the room Doctor Grey had provided. The bed was comfy and while the room was a little empty, he felt rather welcome wrapped up in soft white sheets, much better than the ones he and Dylan had access too when they were travelling to find their next story.  
"I'm afraid it's probably best for us to keep you apart from the other patients for a while, a least a few days. For now, I'll let you get used to your surroundings here. Tomorrow morning we're going to conduct our own psychological evaluation and then we'll think about you seeing the others. Sound good?"  
Yes, yes, all very interesting, but in the end, Jax only had one thing on his mind, "Whats for dinner?"  
The doctor just smiled as she left, even over the camera, they would be able to hear 4 rather loud locks closing the door, for safety reasons of course.  
The next few hours of footage was literally just Jax rattling off countless crappy movie ideas as he looked around the room, he had practically, out loud, written a full screenplay for a steampunk reboot of the matrix. Dylan was not going to have fun going through this footage.  
Finally Doctor Grey returned, and even Jax had to raise an eyebrow as to why she was the only employee he had seen in his time here, but his mind was quickly distracted by the prospect of food. "Come with me, the mess hall is empty now so you can eat." and of course he instantly followed, sure to look around where he could, well, as much as he could without looking suspicious.  
The mess hall was fairly small, not much bigger than his bedroom, the floor was linoleum, presumably to make it easier to clean, and a few stains littered the walls, the results of what he presumed, was a food fight. Despite its size, it would still be able to easily fit every patient in the facility, and once more, Jax found himself distracted by food. He walked over to the table and quickly sat down, digging in while the doctor went on in the background.  
"Tomorrow morning, at 9:30, after a private breakfast much like this, you will be taken for a psychological evaluation. If everything goes well, you should be able to meet one of your fellow patients."  
"Which one?" he asked messily between mouthfuls of what he swore was the worlds best lasagna.  
"We'll figure that out in the morning. for now, just eat up and rest."  
He did so happily and before he fell asleep, spent a prominent 45 minutes going on about just how much he loved the food. "Looks like you were wrong Dylan," he said into the camera, "this place is great, and I'm not even crazy."  
He slept, though the camera kept running just in case anything were to happen in the night, and that morning he went on about how amazing the bed was and the fact that he never wanted to get up and leave this comfy haven, confirming once more, how ultimately completely sure he was that there was nothing wrong with this place. Though rather quickly he was interrupted by somebody walking into the room. Besides the usual Doctor Grey, who was appearing a lot more professional than she had the previous morning, apparently Jax and Dylan's presence had caught her off guard, was a man Jax did not know.  
"Jax, this is Doctor David Washington." Emily said, even this early in the morning her voice was obnoxiously happy, "He'll be in charge of taking you to breakfast and then your psychological evaluation."  
Quickly, the camera man was reminded of his situation, mood swings and lazy, that's what Dylan had said, so he let out a groan, "I can't stay in bed?" the words came to him fairly easily and completely naturally, especially considering he didn't want to leave this comfort.  
Emily laughed, and David just frowned awkwardly, though why it wasn't clear. "Not right now, you have an evaluation that you really just can't miss, I'll give you a few minutes to get ready and then Doctor Washington will take you down to his office." she smiled to both him and then David before heading off, the door closing behind her and David, who waited on the other side of the door for him.  
Jax took those minutes alone to make sure the hidden camera was working and mute his earpiece- he didn't want Dylan accidentally interrupting them, before taking a breath for himself. Mood swings.... Mood swings. 'Just pick a mood, roll with it and then pick a different one' he figured as his mind settled on happy.  
"Okay let's go," he smiled as he stepped out to the doctor, who held a clipboard that made the word 'cliche' run through Jax's mind, as well as giving him another movie idea, which he would be sure to bother Dylan with later.  
"Of course Mr Jonez, is it alright for me to call you Jacks?"  
"It said Jax. with an X," he corrected him, "And yes."  
Quickly the doctor jotted something down and they went to breakfast. Jax ate while Washington stood in the room, something he'd have to get used to. Luckily he ate fairly quickly and once more they were led through corridors to a part of the facility they hadn't been shown upon their arrival, it wasn't a particularly different time, it just appeared ever so slightly less maintained. For the first time, Jax could hear the sounds of what he assumed to be some of the other patients. He had expected something from a horror movie, screaming, chains, someone grabbing onto bars of a cell screaming 'let me out', but from what he could make out, it was a perfectly civil conversation about cleaning supplies.  
"This way," Doctor Washington guided him into a small room, this one much unlike the others he had seen before. The light blue paint on the walls was peeling a little and chipped in a few random places going down the wall, though not enough to bring great alarm to Jax's mind. A few cracks were rather obviously covered by one of those cliche motivation posters which was torn a little at the bottom and the only guess Jax had was another patient getting violent, and he really hoped that very patient wasn't the one he might be meeting later. The carpet was stained in certain places, but only if you were looking for any oddities and everything seemed rather normal. Washingtons desk was much smaller than Emily's and had a distinct lack of pens, pencils, or anything sharp, presumably for safety reasons. "Take a seat, please." and the first time the doctor smiled warmly.  
Jax sat down on the soft chair with a smile up to him, unlike Grey, his niceness seemed more genuine and less constant and it relaxed him a lot more.  
"I'm sure you know how these evaluations go, and I'm sorry if I ask questions you've heard a thousand times before, but it's all needed before we make any progress. Let's start from the very beginning."  
Jax was then dragged rather awkwardly through a lot of family history and embarrassing childhood memories, (and a few movie ideas of course. who doesn't want to see 'Jason vs Freddie vs Batman vs Superman vs Alien vs Predator: The Movie: Rebourne: Origins: Revelations) of course none of which had anything to do with his made up mental issues. Still, Doctor Washington (or 'Wash', as he claimed most of the patients called him) nodded and wrote, occasionally asking about a specific time in his life, and sometimes letting out a small 'mhm'.  
Apparently, he wasn't safe from the awkward questions yet because, after an hour or so of going into his background, he was asked the classic evaluation question 'Do you like yourself?' and of course Jax didn't particularly love or hate himself, though the question still sparked on an awkward cluster of an answer. At least, in the end, it helped his point.  
"How do you feel right now? Angry? Flustered? Sad?"  
"Hungry" He replied honestly.  
Wash allowed a small laugh to pass through his lips and his smile grew a little more genuine. "Don't worry, you'll be allowed to lunch soon, I only have one final question, and I want you to answer it just an honestly as you have every other question I've asked you today Jax because this is the most important. I wouldn't ask this if I didn't trust you'd give me an honest answer. Do you think you would ever hurt yourself, or anyone else if I introduced you to someone else?"  
"Of course not," he said confidently, Dylan might have been ready to have him punch someone but to be completely honest he couldn't win in a fight again a preschooler, never mind someone here.  
"Good. I'll take you to the lunch hall and after you've eaten, I want to meet another inmate. There's nothing to worry about and you'll be monitored, though I promise nothing will go wrong.Everybody here calls him Doc, and I'm sure you'll get along very well."

* * *

 

And that's everything up until now, I had lunch so I'm waiting for this Doc guy to show up, did you find out anything about him through the files? I kinda wanna know who I'm gonna be meeting."  
"Hmm, there are a few people listed here, let me have a look. are you completely sure that's everything that happened?"  
"Everything from the second you left to me sitting here waiting for him to show up. Why do you think this guy's here?"  
"I can't be sure, I haven't found his file yet, but I'm going to come and visit you tomorrow so we can talk in person about everything that happens, remember to keep up the act."  
"Got it." Faint footsteps echo down the hall and for the third time, Jax thought 'cliche', but at least it meant he could hear whenever someone was getting close. "Gotta go, talk to you tomorrow."  
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so we finally get to meet a patient in the next chapter! 3 chapters in 3 days, though I'm in Scotland tomorrow so you probably won't get an update until Tuesday.  
> It's still so much fun to write this story. What do you think?


	4. Yoga aka Doc/O'Malley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:  
> Bipolar Disorder  
> Faking a Mental illness  
> Dissociative personality disorder (and a poor portrayal of it at that)  
> Doc's voice is in normal writing, though O'Malley's is in bold to make it a little easier to read.

* * *

**Name:** Dufresne, Frank  
 **Alias(s):** O'Malley (See Evaluation), commonly known as 'Doc' among staff and fellow patients.  
 **Age:** 27  
 **D.O.B:** 29th September, 1990  
 **Sex:** M  
 **Date of Admission:** 4th July, 2014  
 **Initials and Signature of Guardian:** _E.G_  
 **Closest Living Relative:** N/A  
 **Reason for admission:**   
After speaking with the family of the patient, and having a small evaluation, it has become clear that the patient houses notable symptoms of a Dissociative Identity Disorder, one which renders him at a high risk of being unsafe, not only to those around him but to himself as well.   
Original Phycheratic Evaluation: After my I of the patient, i conclude that at the very least he is showing major symptoms of at least an acute dissociative identity disorder, often switching to a personality known as 'O'Malley', who appears to be much more aggressive than the patient, who on all accounts claims to be a pacifist who 'had never hurt anyone'. In my professional opinion, the patient should be immediately sectioned and treated.  
 **Treatments:**  
Psychotherapy - Dr Washington (10th July 2014, Ongoing)  
Behavior Therapy - Dr Washington (13th July 2014 - 20th July 2014)  
Group Therapy with Other Patients - Dr Grif (7th August, Ongoing)  
Electroconvulsive Therapy - Dr Grey (11th November 2015, Ongoing)  
 **Report:**  
20th July 2014- Patient attacked attending doctor during behaviour therapy session, claiming said sessions were not necessary. To avoid further violence, these sessions will be cancelled by appearance, though small amounts of Behavior therapy will be worked into other treatments.  
31st July 2014- Patient lunged for a fellow patient over an unknown argument. Both remain unharmed apart from minor bruises and group therapy for the patient will be delayed another week as well as 3 days spent in solitary.  
18th November 2014- Patient smashed screen of the television in common room whilst arguing with self over what to watch. He sustained minor cuts on his left hand from the broken glass though is otherwise unharmed. The patient will be held in solitary for 5 days.  
There are multiple incidents of violent outbursts and incidents involving both staff and patients, each of which is dealt with accordingly.  
( _continue reading..._ )  
 **Record:**  
Patient Typically responds well to current treatments, limited - due to his condition- as they are. Socially, while being watched by a doctor - Typically doctor Washington, which whom the patient has developed a small relationship- his dissociative tendencies appear sated, though this is not always the case as the patients dissociative, and ultimately more aggressive, personality (O'Malley), often appears and puts a quick end to an otherwise progressive session.  
At the time being, the patient will continue psychotherapy, group therapy and electroconvulsive therapy with his usual attendees with the hope that he will continue the progress he has been making the past few years.  
When it comes to his interactions with the other patients, typically the result can go either way, though, with a watching eye, the patient had been immediately detained at any sign of possible physical violence, which, in itself, is a rare situation and he tends to get on well with the other patients.  
 **Signed:** _David Washington. Emily Grey._

* * *

Jax looked up as the door opened and in walked Doctor Washington, followed by a slightly smaller man with dark skin, short hair and large purple glasses, the frames of which appeared to be made out of some kind of foam.  
"Doc, this is our newest patient, Jax. Jax, this is Doc." Wash nodded to both of them, but his presence seemed to almost completely disappear just seconds later as he walked over to the corner of the large room, after little more than a small introduction. Apparently, this session was going to be in their hands, and though the doctor kept an eye on the pair, as was his job, they felt completely alone together, a feeling which Jax was surprisingly comfortable with.  
"Hello," Doc, he found, had a rather friendly voice.  
"Hey," Jax smiled back and somehow he found himself following the other to a small couch where they sat down. For what he could tell, this Doc guy seemed pretty normal.  
"I know it can be kinda scary getting here at first, but having gone through all this, I can help you realise how great this place can be." Doc smiled widely and Jax was absolutely sure it was a mistake for the man to be here, " **I have no idea what he's talking about. This place is absolute shit.** " Or Perhaps this is exactly where he belonged. "Don't be like that, the food is pretty good. **Ugh.** Ignore him, this place really isn't that bad." Jax looked at him for a short while without speaking but the man didn't seem to notice as he was reminded of the phrase, 'never judge a book by its cover'. He wished he'd had a warning for whatever this was, but then again, how do you introduce a stranger to the other voice in your head? "you just need to figure out what stress relief method works for you to help you out when times get hard."  
"Yeah? What do you use?" Jax wasn't quite sure how he spoke so normal as his eyes still ran the man up and down as he tried to figure out what had just happened and so quickly into meeting the man. As well as how unbothered he seemed to be that there was what appeared to be, a completely different person living inside his head. He risked a small look at Wash who had apparently expected this and was looking back with nothing more than a small reassuring smile.  
"Yoga!" Doc seemed genuinely excited to tell him and stood up, pulling Jax up with him. " **Oh god, not this again. well... at least you're clothed this time, unlike every morning since we got here.**  " Doc seemed to ignore himself... If that made any sense... "I'll show you a few good poses!"   
Jax was given the impression that the man before him currently stretching had tried this with possibly every other patient in the building, and once more looking over to Wash, maybe he had tried this with staff as well... Still, this was bound to give him some inspiration for another awesome movie and despite... whatever was going on, Doc seemed quite nice and eager to make friends and Jax was in the same boat.  
"Doctor Wash, do you want to get involved, I know you loved it last time." the look on Washingtons face argued with those words.  
"Thanks, Doc but I'm not allowed to get distracted." he smiled softly back, though the way he said it seemed to put a quick end to the conversation in a way that didn't invite anybody else to talk. Jax wasn't sure about the truth behind that statement and if anything, was more curious as to how traumatic yoga had been for the man.  
"Okay." Doc began, "Stretch your arms out as far as they can go." Doc demonstrated, " And lunge with your right leg" Jax copied wobbly and took this as a perfect time to 'interview' the other about the institution.  
"So what do you think of it here?" he asked, somehow unafraid of Wash listening in.  
"Here? Oh, it's great. Everyones trying to help you and treatment is really tough at times, but the harder we work the faster we get better!" Internally, Jax apologised to Dylan for wasting her time on this story. " **All lies. This place is absolutely awful, you're just too distracted by yoga and going vegan to see it** " Well, if this side of Doc was right, maybe Dylan would have her story in the end. "Oh excuse me for wanting a healthier life style!"  
"So where did the name Doc come from?" Jax questioned as they switched legs.  
"Oh, I used to work here," he admitted, "Most of the people here at that time just called me doc, even though I wasn't even a doctor. The name stuck." he shrugged and Jax nodded, If anything, just to say that he understood.  
He wanted to ask a little about Docs condition but found that whenever he was close to doing so, Wash would give him a look which really just said 'I'm not saying no, but no' so he avoided the topic, it was only natural for somebody to be embarrassed by something like that, or at least want to keep it private. In the end, they spent their full hour together doing yoga and talking about life in the facility. "The beds! They are so soft! Softer than mine at home."  
"Yeah, after I put several complaints, they switched all the mattresses to Tempurpedic ones. Apart from the ones in solitary. They're like sleeping on cardboard and it's absolutely terrible for your back. If you ever wind up there, let me know and I'll help fix you up again."  
"Thank you, but I don't think ill wind up there." They both rested for a second and went back to a standing pose as Doc lead him on the next one, yoga was actually fairly difficult, if Jax's wobbling all over the place was anything to go off.  
"Oh, it's easier than you think it is to be kept there." He raised his arms and Jax did the same, bringing his right foot up to his left knee. He wobbled but didn't fall.  
"Yeah? What do you mean by that?" They switched legs.  
"Oh, nothing. If- **YOU BLASTED FOOL** " Jax had wobbled a little far and accidentally pushed Doc. The other man didn't fall but stumbled a few steps before correcting himself and looking to Jax, who had hit the ground. " **He was almost finished with yoga for the day! But now you've interrupted him he's going to do all this again tonight and I'm the one who has to listen to him complain about it! I'm going to skin you alive and use my takings as a flag to keep away the other imbecile in this prison!** "  
Jax stayed quiet and just looked up at him, backing away a little.  
"Doc. The session is about to end" Wash was a lot closer than he was last time Jax had checked. "Jax has a visitor, and you need to go back to your room."  
"Already? but we were having so much fun," After he said that Doc rolled his eyes and Jax wasn't sure he liked the idea of the 'evil' side of Doc being able to control his body. " **Drat, just a few more seconds and id have had his eyes as Christmas baubles!** "  
"Now, Doc. Grif is waiting outside to take you back to your room"  
" **Ugh, that lazy bastard...**  I'll see you at lunch new guy." He waved as he left and once more there was a short silence between Wash and Jax.  
"For what it's worth, I think that went well. Not many people actually get through yoga with him." Wash smiled as he offered him a hand up, which Jax took gladly and familiarly.  
"He seemed nice enough at first."  
"Oh, he is. You just have to get past the O'Malley personality"  
"O'Malley?"  
"That's what he calls his other self. Or what his other-self calls himself. It's all a matter of perspective but you shouldn't have any problems, especially considering there's always someone around to make sure everything is running smoothly. He seems to like you a lot. Now we should head out, you really do have a visitor."

"Dylan!" Jax tried to hug her but only wound up questioning her amazing hug-dodging skills. "I thought you were coming tomorrow"  
"Keep it down, we need to talk" They were both sat face to face over a small table. A camera sat in the corner of the room though Dylan guessed that if they kept their voices down then they should be free from anybody attempting to listen in. No doctor was present, though Wash stood outside in case anything did happen. "I know I said I was going to come tomorrow but I read up on 'doc's file and wanted to see how everything went from you in person. So? how is this place?"  
"I'm sorry, I don't think you have a story here. The food is great, they take really good care of you too! I've only met Doctor Wash so far but he's really nice and takes care of everything"  
Dylan sighed and Jax tried to sound a little less enthusiastic. "What about this Doc guy? Perfectly normal as well I'm guessing."  
"well..." he proceeded to go over an action movie retelling of the past couple of hours. "So if the O'Malley version of him is right, then you could be onto something!"  
Dylan just sighed again, "I guess, but I doubt it. You have to remember that the people here aren't... Well, you know. Just keep digging around. If you haven't found anything by the end of next week, I'll take you out of here and we can find something else." Jax nodded, his heart now set on finding something story worthy.  
"If it means anything, I haven't seen any other staff." He said, hoping for the very response he got.  
"Not anyone else?"  
"No. I mean, Wash mentioned another doctor 'Grif', the brother of that girl we talked to, but I haven't seen or heard anyone else this entire time."   
"I would have thought they'd have at least more staff than patients because if those patients banded together, they'd be out of this place in no time..." she was talking faster than usual, the way she did when she wanted to write something down and get to work. "That's a good start, Jax. If you don't see anyone else, let me know and I'll keep looking into it. I haven't gone through the staff files on the computer yet."  
"Have you seen any other patient files? I'd really like to know who else is here."  
"A few, but I'm not going to tell you anything. It'll be more realistic if you don't know anything going into meeting them, besides, it seems Doc is the most dangerous one and all you two did was yoga." And from the way Dylan sat, Jax had to hold back the urge to tell her a stance that would improve her posture. Being on the inside really did change a man. "I've been told about, and signed off on, the treatments you're going to be having. I'm just giving you a heads up."  
"How come? Is it really that bad?"  
"Not all of it. Behaviour therapy shouldn't be too bad, from what I've been told it's not that intense. You have slightly more intense psychotherapy twice a week and group therapy once, I need you to document all of it and see how effective it is on the other patients, I've been doing my research and I need to make sure everything is up to par with the standards set by the state."  
"That all sounds good. So why did you feel the need to warn me?"  
"...You're going to be taking medication. It's called Lithium Carbonate, or something close to that, and I only got told about it as you got here so I haven't done any research but considering you don't really have a problem, you shouldn't take them. I'm sure they're used to patients refusing to take their pills so if you're hiding them, hide them well, I don't want you getting hurt too badly while you're here. You know if there's any trouble, talk to me." Jax nodded, writing this all down in his head. "So where do you go from here?"  
"Lunch I think. This is the first time I'll see the other patients all together" He wondered if they were all like Doc. Or worse?  
"Good. Find what you can there, I'm going to go do a bit of research and I'll check in with you tomorrow. Remember, you can't let your act slip or they'll get suspicious," she got up and smiled softly, if only for the cameras, before leaving and Jax cursed himself because his act had disappeared on day one, even if everyone seemed to be still falling for it. He thought about what he could do to make him seem a little more... unstable and came to the conclusion that it was time to cause a scene at lunch.  
He walked out and looked to wash who immediately started walking and talking. "So, you want lunch with the other patients? You sure that's what you want even after what just happened?"  
"I'm sure 100% I want to see them before group therapy, and you said it yourself, Doc wasn't that bad." He answered and Wash nodded knowingly.  
"That sounds really good actually. I'm not sure if it's the new environment or people or something, but you seem to be very stable here. I hope that continues. You might be the first person to actually leave here"  
There was silence and then talking, but not talking from Jax or Wash, and the volume immediately pointed Jax's attention to a pair leaving a room just a few feet ahead of them. Both were male. One taller, with pale white freckle covered skin and short ginger hair plus a fair few scars, which Jax had to applaud the perfect symmetry of. He was muttering quietly to the other man, this one shorter and dressed like a Wash. He had dark skin and stubble that suggested he hadn't shaved in a week or so. They kept their conversation quiet, the ginger one doing most of the speaking, sometimes happily, sometimes darkly, and Jax quickly realised that they too, were heading to the lunch hall.  
In his observations, Jax had stopped walking and so had Wash, though seemingly more out of politeness than anything else, letting the couple walk down most of the corridor before he started moving again.  
"Who are they?" Jax asked once he was sure they were out of hearing distance, "More doctors?"  
"One of them was" Wash informed him, "The Hawaiian man is Doctor Grif. He runs the group therapy every Friday. Though he doesn't really have any qualifications of any kind, he's good with a few of the patients like the one you saw with him. That's Dick Simmons, he's the only patient left that was here from the very beginning." Jax couldn't imagine over 10 full years in this place. Nice as it was, he himself could probably only handle a few weeks, and though he felt bad for the man, he had his eyes set on the man as his target for making a scene at lunch with.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay yeah. I don't know how to write doc. I'm sorry! This entire chapter wound up a thousand times worse than I wanted it to be. Like much worse. But I hate to miss a deadline so I also made it a little longer to make up for the crappy writing. At least we're finally onto the main part of the story where I get to introduce all the other characters!  
> Also, I made Docs portrayal of a dissociative personality disorder a little less accurate and more like how the series had him interact with O'Malley, I'm not sure if it was a good idea or not but it is the one I made.  
> Please comment, I don't care if it's a bad comment, constructive criticism is always great. Thank you!


	5. Lunch aka Grif (and Simmons)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> Bipolar Disorder  
> Faking an illness  
> Obsessive compulsive disorder  
> Violence  
> Enabling  
> Prosthetic Limbs  
> OOC Simmons  
> Paranoia

**Name:** Simmons, Richard 'Dick'  
**Alias(s):** N/A  
**Age:** 27  
**D.O.B:** 22nd February, 1990  
**Sex:** M  
**Date of Admission:** 11th January, 2006  
**Initials and Signature of Guardian:** _E.G_  
**Closest Living Relative:** N/A  
**Reason for admission:** The patient has obsessive compulsive disorder, a disorder diagnosed several years before he was brought here, but has recently gotten to the point of dangerous actions, ranging from small things such as personal harm caused by scrubbing his skin, or much larger issues like feeling the need to correct scars, birthmarks and any marks on his skin resulting in deep cuts and necessary restraining.  
**Treatments:**  
psychological therapy- cognitive behavioural therapy- Dr Washington/Dr Grif (15th January 2006, ongoing)  
Group Therapy- Dr Grif (19th February 2006, ongoing)  
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) (Since before admission, Ongoing)  
Clomipramine (Since before admission, ongoing)  
Plus several personal treatments including an obsessive thought diary and working through several nervous ticks with the help of Doctor Grif  
**Report:**  
19th February, 2006- Patient was bleeding after excessive scrubbing of his skin, mostly on his hands and arms. From now he will be monitored often to make sure nothing else happens of this nature and he will be given handwash that isn't needed to be washed off to avoid any cuts until we find a more permanent solution.  
19th June, 2006- After many incidents, the patient has been approved for use of a straight jacket in times of extreme need, and despite the controversial nature of the tool it is believed to be of the best until another way to restrain him safely is found.  
28th January, 2008- Patient attempted to escape the institution. Luckily he was found without any problems and brought back to his room, as well as punished with 14 days in solitary after leaving the medical room from sustaining injuries from his attempt.  
(Continue Reading...)  
**Record:**  
The patient responds very well to all of his current treatments and takes steps, with the help of Doctor Grif, someone whom the patient has a rather close relationship with. However, in the 10 years, he has been here, his condition has only changed slightly, though his ability to handle it has grown immensely.  
Currently, he will continue taking all medication and going to therapy with his usual doctors.  
Unfortunately, social skills are one thing we haven't been able to change much, despite constant trying he keeps his interactions to a minimum, though is still willingly participating in weekly group therapy.  
The patient keeps a diary with the help of Doctor Grif, though tends to react badly if anyone apart from himself and said doctor attempt to read it.  
His condition leaves him with a lot of obsessive thoughts, and he's admitted to fears of contaminations and cleanliness and a lot of what he refers to as 'twitches' which include, obsessive hand washing, repeating words, cleaning and making sure everything is up to his own standards.  
One of the biggest forms of help comes in the form of Doctor Grif, who can 'neutralise' the patient when he in a bad mental state.  
He struggled badly with an injury sustained approx 2 years after arrival which resulted in needing to amputate his legs, luckily over time, he appears almost unbothered by the incident and copes well with walking, despite the situation. However, as expected from anybody, he gets very agitated whenever said prosthetics are mentioned.  
**Signed:** _David Washington. Dexter Grif. Emily Grey._

* * *

  
By the time Washington and Jax had arrived at the lunch hall, several patients were taking food and sitting down, most of them on their own and seemingly purposely avoiding eye contact with anyone and to be perfectly honest, Jax found it something of a depressing sight. He looked around in search of Dick Simmons as he was given food but couldn't see him anywhere so asked Wash.  
"Oh, he eats his lunch in the common room, he and Doctor Grif work through a few things before anybody else joins them. When you've finished we all go there for your free time. Why? I should probably let you know he won't talk to you"  
"Oh, he just seemed interesting before and nice," He probably shouldn't have asked Wash, who seemed pretty suspicious of his activities. Like the others, Jax sat down by himself, Washington keeping an eye on everyone, though it didn't seem necessary, nobody wanted to cause any trouble. Jax looked around the room slowly. If this was everyone, then there really weren't many people here. Sat by himself in the corner, talking slightly to wash, was a man poking at his food, with long dreadlocks and a seemingly permanent frown. Just a few seats down sat someone who reminded Jax of Dick. He was old, with greying hair, and more scars than Jax could count, mumbling to himself as the other man had, only this one somehow seemed more suspicious of his surroundings, occasionally throwing glares in Jax's direction.  
Sat just across from Jax was a pair who seemed to be staring at everyone, one small with orange hair shaved at the sides and light skin, the other almost his exact opposite, clearly strong with a large x scar on his face, his hair long and dark. Jax couldn't really bring himself to look at them for too long before looking away, not sure if it was out of fear, nervousness or just awkwardness.  
There were others, but he either couldn't see them from where he was sat, or they kept their eyes on their food and quickly ate and Jax was perfectly happy doing to same before a familiar face sat next to him.  
"Hi, Doc."  
"Hello, don't you just love the food here? It's all organic too!" He smiled and ate, "I'm hoping to convince them to let us plant our own garden outside, **Ah yes, if they do, we might finally be able to get out of this place and continue with my plans for WORLD DOMINATION!** "  
"How would a garden help with world domination?"  
" **We release a batch of contaminated vegetables to wipe out the human race and spread a zombie virus!** "  
Something told Jax that they weren't going to get a garden.  
"What do you think of the other people here Doc?" The other man seemed to be slightly taken aback with the sudden change in conversation.  
"Some of them are nice I guess, Why? Thinking of talking to someone?"  
"Not really, they just all seem a little... on edge"  
"Don't worry, they're all fine. It just takes a while to get to know new people. Maybe we can do some ice breaking exercises when we get to the common room." He Suggested happily, seemingly already thinking about what to do. Jax just nodded and finished his lunch.

They arrived at the common room not long after and Jax looked around a little shocked because it was nothing like how he assumed the place would look after their small tour with Emily Grey. Both Doctor Washington and doctor Grif were there, and if the cameras meant anything, Doctor Grey was probably looking in on everything too. The paint on the walls was peeling badly revealing a white plaster which had been tinted black by either mold or paint, and planted around the room was 3 sofas, two by a small tv, with bars over the screen, not that the screen was of any use as it was smashed and badly duct-taped back up so you could no longer see the screen. The windows were barred too, though the curtains were closed anyway, leaving the only dim artificial lighting to illuminate the room, and a quiet song played on repeat from a small, beat up jukebox in the corner.  
Everybody who walked in seemed to know exactly where they were going. Some went to the broken couches, staying by themselves and pulling on the stuffing which had escaped one of the many holes in its fabric, while others went to one of the 4 tables around the room, one of which, was occupied by a quietly talking Simmons, using a small, maroon crayon to write in a flimsy looking book. Stood only a few feet away from him, keeping an eye not just on him but the room around them stood Doctor Grif, whom Jax hadn't had the pleasure of meeting yet.  
"I can't take your mind games anymore!" Jax jumped at the voice which came from seemingly nowhere and quickly spun around to see the old scarred man from the lunch hall glaring at him angrily, his voice loud "Who are you? Friend? OR ENEMY?!" What was going on?!  
"Friend! Friend, I am a friend!" Jax let out quickly, not because he had any understanding of the situation, but because the man seemed like he was going to beat the living shit out of him if he didn't talk. "I'm not here to hurt you!"  
30 seconds of silence and glaring...  
and then another 30 seconds...  
Jax blinked and the man's hand landed on his shoulder. "Good to have you on board soldier" Whoever he was, the man patted Jax shoulder a few times and beckoned for him to follow, which he did, if not slightly fearfully. "We need good men like you to help us take down those damn dirty-"  
"Sarge" Washington was saving Jax once more. He really had a knack for it. Jax looked over to the doctor hopefully, "Maybe you should be nice to the new recruit and give him the day off. There's a lot of stuff for him to get used to around here"  
"hmm, well, you know I don't like slackers, but you have never steered be wrong before... fine. one day. but don't expect me to hold back tomorrow rookie!" There was a hard hand against Jax's back and he jumped a little, holding back a squeal.  
"What um... what was all that about?" He asked looking over to wash.  
"You'll figure it out eventually, he's just like everybody else. I'll tell you later, but for now, I think Simmons wants you"  
They both turned to the table where Simmons was writing and sure enough he had moved a little, his hand twirling what was left of the crayon between his fingers and his eyes staring right at Jax.

There was silence for a few seconds before Doctor Grif walked over to the man, causing him to turn back to writing and ignore the pair once more.  
"Tell me about him," Jax said, looking back to wash.  
"About who? Simmons?"  
"Yeah, why is he here? He seems like a normal person for the most part, if not a little socially awkward"  
"I'll be honest, I don't know all that much" Wash explained, leading Jax to an empty couch so it didn't just seem like they were standing there staring. "He's here because of OCD that's bad enough to keep him here like everyone else but he only works with Grif so I don't know anything else. you seem very interested in him, why?"  
"It's nothing, I just wanted to make a new friend," he said, peering over to the pair once more.  
"He probably isn't your best bet if I'm honest. From what I've seen, new people freak him out" Jax nodded, though was still confused. Normal people with OCD lead perfectly functional lives, even if they did have their problems, they at least got to have their own homes and live like normal people, so why was he here?  
"What put him here? What happened?"  
"I'm not sure. I only started working here in 2010, and they were both here long before that." Jax accepted this as his answer. Everybody here was quite 'quirky' if that was the proper word to describe them, but he was set on Simmons being the one he fought with, so he'd have to find another way on riling him up, which meant talking to Doctor Grif.

Grif was sat down now, just one table across from Simmons, most likely to give him his privacy as he wrote, using an orange crayon this time as the maroon one had broken. "Hello," Jax said, sitting across from Grif and blocking his view of Simmons.  
The doctor sighed but also seemed to remember that this was his job and looked up to him, "You must be the new guy." Jax took a second to look the man up and down. He was fairly overweight and had a few stains on his uniform, some fresh from lunch, as well as crumbs from what looked to be from the Oreos on the table in front of him. Apparently, Grif had seen him look because he protectively pulled the packet closer.  
"Yeah, I'm Jax," he said, pulling his eyes away from the biscuits.  
"Is there something you wanted?" he raised an eyebrow, and also an oreo to his lips and took a bite.  
"Yes actually. I was wondering what you could tell me about dick Simmons." Jax wasn't sure why, but the doctor sat up a little more and looked at him, though he wasn't sure what that emotion was, somewhere between curiosity and annoyance.  
"Why?"  
"I want to be his friend." There was a second of silence, Jax was waiting for information but Grif just looked shocked and asked once more.  
"why?"  
"I want to be friends with everyone here."  
"Simmons isn't good when it comes to making friends."  
"That's okay, I am, so it'll make up for him."  
Grif was getting tired of Jax's questions. "Look, if you want to be friends with him, why did you come to me? Why not go to him?" That was... actually a good question.  
"Because when I met Doc, I thought he was normal, so that was a bit of a surprise... so I wanted to know what was wrong with Simmons."  
"..." He wasn't sure if it was his wording or something else but that sentence seemed to annoy Grif a little and the man took a breath. "IF you're going to talk to anyone here, just make sure you're not making them uncomfortable, the same goes for him. Now leave me alone. And stop eyeing my Oreos! You're not getting any."

That was all Jax needed, so he smiled and said goodbye, walking over to Simmons and sitting across from him, cutting the mans vision off from Grif. He looked up instantly. "Hello."  
"1... 2... 3... 1...-" Jax waited, slightly confused until the man had counted to 3 at least 10 times before looking up again as though to say exactly what his mouth said. "You're still here?"  
"Yup. I just got here, I'm Jax." He reached out a hand to which the other man let out a small shriek before biting his lip and ignoring the appendage in front of him, but at this point, Jax's eyes had gone down to the book Simmons had been writing him, where he made out upside down the words:

 _Bad thought: the sun could explode and kill everyone._  
_Good thought: I would die on a sunny day_

But he couldn't continue reading before the book was slammed shut and Simmons awkwardly backed away, leaving the orange crayon behind, giving Jax a great idea.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to look" The other man paused and looked at Jax. Simmons had only ever wanted help from this place, and though it came slowly, it still happened. So, he figured, talking to the new guy, must mean progress. Right?  
"Just don't do it again." he hadn't expected him to actually talk back, and Jax smiled and Simmons moved back to sit at least a little more comfortable. "It's nice to meet you, Jax"  
Not too obviously, Jax looked at that book. That was a good way to start a fight.

"How long have you been here?" Jax asked confidently as his mind went through his plan.  
"10 years" The other muttered, tapping each finger on the table 3 times each. Jax wanted to ask why but didn't.  
"That's a long time"  
"Yeah... But the longer you're here the more help you get, and you'll get better faster." and that's all Simmons wanted. 'I'm making conversation' was what went through Simmons' mind as Jax plotted his fight, 'that's good. That's progress...'  
"Do you like it here?" If he was talking he might as well try to get some information from the guy, especially since he'd been here longer than anybody else, and he probably wouldn't want to talk to him after today.  
He opened his mouth to respond but stopped himself, the look on his face was pained, though Jax couldn't tell if it was because of the man's condition or anything else. Simmons thought for a second in silence and moved to speak again before just shaking his head and staying quiet but if the conversation was going to end here, Jax figured he really needed to start this fight soon, which could be done with a few simple questions.  
"Whats in the book?"  
Simmons looked up at him again. "That's none of your business" his voice was louder as though after a little searching he'd found that part of him that could actually stand up for himself.  
"Show me"  
"No!" still, their voices weren't loud enough to be heard over the music or everybody else in the room, so to anybody else, it seemed out of completely nowhere that Jax jumped at the other, who shrieked and fell back in his chair, clutching onto the notebook that Jax also had his hands around. "SHOW ME WHATS IN THERE!" Yeah okay, he felt a little bad that he was doing this, but it was all for the sake of appearances. The other man fought back, trying to push Jax off him as Jax (accidentally) dug his nails into his collar, drawing small spots of red which bled into the white cloth of Simmons' top in small crescent patterns.  
Everybody had gathered around at that point, some cheering on the fight, other like doc telling them they should probably stop but not doing much else. Both doctors tried to get through the crowd to stop the pair from fighting. 'At least it's working' Jax thought before a fist connected with his nose hard enough for him to feel a surge of pain and hear something snap. With a groan he stood up, taking a few steps back, now hearing a few of the other patients cheering. Shakily, Simmons stood up, the book in his hands torn and creased.  
Neither men being particularly amazing fighters they both looked at each other before Jax took another step forward. 'For what it's worth... I'm sorry' he thought internally before bringing a fist to the other man's eye and tripping him up before he felt someone pulling him back, recognising that strength as Washingtons before seeing Grif run to the other man's side, holding him back as well as helping him up and reattach his... Suddenly Jax felt 10,000x more like a dick (which is saying something because he already felt like a pretty big one) as he saw Grif helping re-attach what could only be a prosthetic leg, noting the exact same one on his other leg too.  
"Whats going on here?" Everybody went silent as the door opened and doctor grey walked in. Her voice was still far too happy, especially for this moment, though the look on her face sent chills through pretty much everyone in the room.  
It was Washington that spoke up, "A fight broke out, but it is under control now."  
She seemed to consider the scenario for a second, "Solitary. both of them. Take everyone else back to their rooms and I'll meet those two down there." she nodded to the pair and Simmons seemed shocked. The same kind of shock the teacher's pet kid gets at school when he gets a detention.  
Jax was just happy his plan had worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I should probably apologise about how this one turned out. I had hardly any energy left to read through and edit it so I hope my grammar is at least slightly decent and reading this didn't put anyone in a coma because of terrible writing and story.  
> Simmons is super OOC, sorry, but it's also kinda explained in the future? Or again, I could just be using that as an excuse for terrible writing today. Again, sorry.  
> Please leave a comment, anythings fine really. I promise the next chapter will be better.


	6. Solitary aka Sarge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:  
> PTSD  
> Bipolar disorder  
> faking a mental illness  
> mentions of violence  
> prosthetics  
> medication  
> enabling  
> panic attacks  
> OCD

**Name:** Unknown  
**Alias's:** Sarge  
**Age:** 58  
**DOB:** 29th September, 1959  
**Sex:** M  
**Date of admission:** 2nd September, 2010  
**Initials and signature of guardian:** _E.G_  
**Closest living relative:** N/A  
**Reason for admission:**  
'Sarge' is the very opposite of what I would consider a 'common case' for an institution like this. I certainly wouldn't consider his word a completely reliable source, though being it the only word we have, all we can assume is that he is most likely an ex-military officer, again, most likely a sergeant due to the self-proclaimed name 'Sarge', and is displaying major symptoms of PTSD mainly including a rather large delusion that he is still currently in the war. From what I can tell by the 20 minutes he spent asking me if I was a spy for the 'enemy troops' he's very paranoid and could possibly be hearing voices and/or be having hallucinations which accompany his paranoid ideation. Whether this is all an episode of some sort or, though it is less likely, a permanent state of mind, I advise keeping him safe and secure until further reviews have taken place.  
**Treatments:**  
Cognitive therapy- Dr Washington (13th November 2010, ongoing)  
Exposure therapy- Dr Washington (15th March 2011, ongoing)  
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing- Dr Grif (EMDR) (20th July 2011- 14th August 2011)  
Group therapy- Dr Grif (22nd December 2010, ongoing)  
Paroxetine (30th November 2010, ongoing)  
Prazosin (16th December 2010, ongoing)  
**Report:**  
22nd December, 2010- Patient started multiple fights between patients and staff, as well as 'interrogating' several patients, accusing them of being spies, 'traitors', or having been 'brainwashed by the enemy'. In the commotion, he took the opportunity to attack Doctor Grif, who luckily didn't sustain too much damage before all of the patients were detained. 'Sarge' will be punished with 3 nights in solitary and his therapy will be happening twice a week, instead of once.  
25th January, 2011- Patient started a 'training drill' in the institution's common room, instructing several other patients up and around doing various exercises. At first this was not stopped as it seemed several of the patients were enjoying themselves, until one decided to stop, which is when Sarge took a broom, accidentally left out after cleaning, and continued to hit him with it, shouting things such as 'quitting is punishable by death!.' Once more he will spend 3 nights in solitary and have to apologise to the patient.  
29th February, 2012- Patient refused to stop scaring other patients with 'stories from the war', using the excuse that they had to 'man up' and 'get used to what was going on out there'. After he refused to stop and had upset several patients, he was detained and will be made to make an apology. his therapies will be moved to three times a week instead of two.  
**Record:**  
Sarge has very heavy PTSD in one of its more difficult to challenge forms, especially considering he refuses to believe any statement apart from his own. We are doing everything we can to help, including hiding the medication he needs (and refuses to take) in his food and continuing with multiple episodes of therapy every week, more than anybody else in the facility has. He insists that there is war going on, and he is here to make sure everybody is ready once it hits Blood Gulch, which at least lets us know that he is from the area, however, we know little more about the man, including his real name, which he insists is simply 'Sarge', most likely a nickname because of his position, back in the army. Despite many difficulties we have with the patient, he seems to be at least a slight good influence on the others, as he often gets them up for 'training exercises' in the common room, even if occasionally they end badly. He has also appealed to several of the institution's more introverted patients, such as Dick Simmons, who seems to have taken a small liking to him. He does, however, not seem to trust one of the doctors- that being doctor Dexter Grif- or at the very least, have a weak relationship with him, however, we aren't sure from where this hatred stems.  
Our very best efforts will continue in the hopes that we can help the patient, however, very little to no improvement is obvious in the last 7 years.  
**Signed:** _David Washington. Dexter Grif. Emily Grey._

* * *

Jax was taken or more like pulled, along to a medical room by Wash, who had changed exponentially since the fight. The look on his face sent, even more, guilt through Jax, though he couldn't tell if it was anger, pure annoyance or just straight up disappointment, either way, it meant Jax stayed quiet for the whole walk over to the medical bay. "Sit down." Wash's voice didn't help either, and he still couldn't figure out how he was feeling. Jax took a seat on a large medical bed, a hand on his bleeding nose, "Look down." He did and took a second while Wash's back was turned to look in a small mirror on the other side of the room. He was well and truly a mess. His nose was bent at an awkward angle and the skin around it and his eyes were bruising a dark purple, with the addition of the blood running from his nose and dripping onto his clothes, accompanied with what he could only assume were the blood of Dick Simmons. He sighed and looked down again as Wash turned to him, and though his voice was harsh, as was his face, the doctor gently moved Jax's hand from his nose and replaced it with ice, which made Jax wince and let out a hiss.  
"So tell me the truth," Wash's voice had softened a lot as he dabbed away the blood still running from Jax's nose with a small piece of cotton wool. "Why did you want to know so much about Simmons? Did you have this planned from the beginning?" He knew it was a slightly risky question to ask, especially to someone who's mood could snap any second, but he was confident he had to strength to restrain him if he needed to.  
"Of course not," Jax's voice was nasally because of his nose and he pulled away from the ice with another wince to let wash keep cleaning him up. "I was just curious."  
"I will remind you, curiosity killed the cat" Washington warned, and Jax wondered if there was something more to those words, but not for particularly long as he was snapped out of his thoughts by another rather large pain in his nose. "Sorry. I can't help much that it's broken." The doctor said, "I can bring you new ice later when you're in solitary, and in the morning if you want, I can snap it back into place."  
"That sounds painful."  
"It is"  
Wash got him a new ice pack as the one he was currently holding onto was now stained with the blood dripping from his face, "I'm fine as I am thanks," Jax decided. It was a battle scar of sorts.  
Washington shrugged it off and made sure there was nothing else that needed seeing to. "I'm going to take you back to your room so you can change into some more clothes, ones a little less blood stained. Then I'll take you down to solitary." __  
Jax nodded again as he placed the new ice against his nose, which for the most part had thankfully stopped bleeding.  
Quickly enough, they were walking down to Jax's room, where he quickly got changed into the folded clothes sat on his bed, leaving the bloodied ones on the floor, feeling worse about everything that had happened with Simmons. perhaps he should have challenged someone who was a little more capable of handling themselves or was ready for a fight, like Sarge. Actually, no. Sarge would probably rip him in half and seemed to be a lot less forgiving. He pulled on the new clothes, the shirt of which was a little small and the pants being slightly too long, though he really wasn't ready to demand new ones while he was in the hospital's version of a high school detention.  
He stepped outside to Wash with a small nod, and they walked together down to solitary. They walked through a few of the corridors he and Dylan had been shown around before reaching a staircase which they walked down only to be met with a sight very much like the common room. Though the corridor was a perfect white, aligned neatly with 5 strong white doors with only 2 slots in each, one at eye level, the other on the floor, the entire corridor was plastered in peeling wallpaper and the floor was very much unwashed, a few stains having sunk into the linoleum and permanently marked the floor.  
"You got in a fight," Doctor Washington explained as they stopped at one of the doors, "Which means you're going to use this time to reflect and apologise to Simmons, and he will do the same." Both knew who's fault it was, but there was a way these things were done. He unlocked the door and they walked in. Either these rooms didn't get used much, or they got used constantly. Either way, they didn't get cleaned well. In the corners of the padded walls was obvious mould growing through the fabric, and the walls were torn in places from other patients. The room was only 6 feet by 6 feet, and along the entirety of one of the walls was a thin looking bed, with sheets that were stained a multitude of colours that stood out against the white. He brushed a hand against the wall and a few particles of dust were set into motion, floating for a few seconds before landing on the floor, which like the walls was soft, but easy to walk on, and also like the walls, was breaking apart and covered in even more stains.  
One wall was seemingly made entirely out of glass, though presumably impossible, or at least more difficult, to break, looking into a room with the exact same layout and size. Though the room was slightly cleaner, that didn't make it particularly good and through it all, Jax knew he'd have enough footage to cheer Dylan up and confirm her story, even if it did change from scandal to mistreatment. "How long do I have to stay here?"  
"I'm honestly not sure. Emily will tell you when she gets here. For now, I want to talk to you."  
"Hm?" Jax was expecting this, but that didn't mean he had yet come up with a good enough excuse for starting a fight. He couldn't very well say 'oh I needed to trick you into thinking I was mentally ill so I beat up one your patients.'  
"You were doing so well. What do you think set you off? If I knew your triggers, we could stop this from happening again and save you, and other people, a lot of pain and punishment." He looked far too calm for the situation and Jax thought about what was the most convincing thing he could say but he wasn't given long, "Jax, I don't want you to think of an excuse, I want the truth. What happened out there and why? Was it something he said? Something he did? You seemed to be really looking forward to meeting him and yet here we are."  
"He wouldn't show me what was in the book" Jax blurted out, he used that to start the fight, so why not keep rolling with that story? "He was keeping secrets and I wanted to know what he was hiding but he said no and he should have shown me!"  
Wash sighed, but nodded, "At least you were honest with me," He patted Jax's shoulder a few times, "I'll see you tomorrow morning. You will be starting to take your medication then too so we can talk about that then. Just wait here for now until Simmons and Emily get here so you can all talk."  
"See you in the morning Doctor Wash," they both nodded to each other and Wash left, locking the door behind him, and leaving Jax to sit down on the VERY uncomfortable bed (he'd have to remember some of that yoga Doc had taught him) and wait for Simmons to get here.

"Dylan... Dylan..." He hissed, hoping the woman would pick up while he was still alone in the room, "Are you there?"  
He heard something which sounded like typing and a yawn before Dylan's voice chimed up, "Hello?"  
"I see you took my advice about afternoon naps."  
The sound he heard was a mix of confusion, exhaustion and whatever the sound for 'shut up' without actually saying the words is. "I was up late last night doing research on this place. I don't get to eat great food and spend as long as I want in bed like you do," she let out and he heard typing again, "What did you want? Did something happen?"  
"Yeah, kinda, I got into a fight with one of the other patients here, Dick Simmons, and wound up in solitary," he admitted but smiled, "And I think I have a few recordings you might want to look at. This place is a mess!"  
"Really?" Dylan's voice got a little more excited.  
"Yup, I don't think they should be allowed to keep people here for days on end, though it wasn't easy getting here," he ran a finger along his nose, which had gone a little numb and bled a little more. He wiped the blood on his sleeve slowly.  
"Is whats-his-name alright? Simmons?"  
"I'm not sure, he was bleeding but I haven't seen him in about an hour. Wait, why did you ask about him before me? I have a broken nose!"  
"Jesus Christ Jax, we're here to help these people, not hurt them anymore! And try not to get yourself beat up much more or Carlos is going to kill me.  
"Don't worry, I don't plan on it, everybody here looks like they can kill me just by looking at me the right way, even Simmons was pretty strong." He remembered the ugly purple the skin around his eyes and nose was going. "No more fighting for me."  
"Good. I'm finding some interesting things on my end too."  
"Yeh?" He automatically raised an eyebrow. Bad idea. "Oww...."  
Dylan ignored his cry of pain, "Yeah. I've been going through the patient files, and every patient there has exactly the same signature as their 'signature of guardian'. E.G."  
"Maybe they all knew the same person, or were transferred over from a different institution?"  
"Maybe... I'll keep looking, but every page I open just makes it seem like something is going down here. I just need to stick all the pieces together...."  
Jax nodded even though she wouldn't be able to see, though heard the rattle of the lock the next room over. "Someone's here, I have to go," he said quickly and Dylan had started to say something but he turned off the earpiece before she could finish the first word.

  
Jax stayed sat on the bed, looking through the glass over at the other room, where the door opened and in walked Doctor Grif, with Simmons, who was trying to fight but had his arms tied around him with what looked like a straight jacket? Were those even still legal?  
"You can't leave me here, you can't you can't you can't, Grif you cant, you can't you can't do it, please please please don't, you know what happens, please!" Jax was tempted to cover his ears, he couldn't listen to Simmons begging, and knew that if he was in the doctor's position he wouldn't be able to force the man into the room. "Dex, please don't, please, please!" his voice was going hoarse from screaming at the doctor, as he tried to avoid stepping anywhere that was even slightly stained at the same time. He was openly sobbing at this point, his mind a mess of fear and panic. Jax was sure if his arms had been free he'd be clinging to the doctor, "Dexter please..."  
Finally, once more Jax found the courage to look to the other man who had one sad, tear filled eye, swollen and purple thanks to their fight, as well as small dots of blood still littering his clothes from Jax's nails digging into him. The man was sat on the floor, the doctor not looking at him, either it is from lack of care, or just the complete inability to look at the sight, Jax didn't know, but if it was the latter, he sympathised completely. "I'll be back later to help you tonight and in the morning"  
"Dex!" the door to their 'rooms'- if that word was applicable, though they seemed more like the padded forms of rusted cells- was closed loudly and locked as the Doctor left and the red haired man became more aware of his surroundings, somehow getting even more panicked.  
Jax didn't meet his eye. He kept his gaze down and tried to ignore him, though it was difficult and knew that the man was here all because of him.

"Now, you're going to get a headache if you keep screaming like that," Jax hadn't even noticed Grey enter his room and jumped when he met her gaze. Surprisingly, the sound of her obnoxiously happy voice was enough to stop Simmons for a few moments as he looked up to her. "After all, the sooner we calm down and get along, the sooner we get out of here" He nodded shakily, the tears on his face making his freckles seem to blend into one another, and though he stopped making a sound, his body still shook and occasionally another tear would join the others. "So you two had a little scrape didn't you now? Jax, you're going to stay down here with Richard for 2 days and that way when you get out and join the others you'll be completely fine with one another. You might even be good friends by then." Her attitude clashed badly with the feeling of the room and Jax realised quickly that he was nodding. "Good! Richard, you're going to stay down here for 5 days," the other man tenses up in a way that made Jax shiver and looks away, "I did tell you last time that if anything else happened you'll have to spend longer down here. But I'm sure the time will fly by and soon you'll be back upstairs with everybody else." Jax wasn't sure Simmons knew he was nodding, but he was. "Good. Now, Jax, you haven't been here before so I'll explain everything to you very quickly. The doctors will come down in the morning to give you both breakfast and your medication. You'll have lunch at half past 3 and part of your punishment is no dinner, so if you get hungry, remember that you're here as a punishment, and if you behave, soon enough you'll get all the food you want when you're upstairs again."  
Jax nodded once more and she smiled, though he was completely unsure how she could with both men, one of whom was still crying, beaten up and almost completely and utterly afraid of the woman stood by them.  
"Both of you behave yourselves. I'll be checking in over cameras to make sure no funny business is happening." She got no response from either of them and took it as an invitation to leave, walking out the door and locking it once more.

There was silence after that, or at least of Jax's side. Simmons had looked around the room and was now sat in the very centre, almost unable to sit still, or at least that's how it seemed. His head was constantly looking around himself, and at the floor, occasionally staring over at some of the larger and obviously more recent marks occasionally edging himself away from one, only to find that he was closer to another. This went on for several hours until finally he closed his eyes and started talking to himself softly. The man just wanted to make the world stop spinning for a few seconds.  
Jax heard him counting a lay down on his own bed, pulling the messy sheet over him. It was only 6 o'clock, if not earlier, but sleeping through this would be easier than having to suffer knowing the other was panicking. He closed his eyes, as Simmons kept counting to three, and he actually found the quiet rhythm of his words to be quite soothing.

"Simmons?" He said quietly and wasn't sure if he was listening as the man was still counting, "I'm sorry. This is all to help you, and I know it doesn't seem like that. But in the end, it's all going to be worth it. I promise"  
There was silence for a good 15 seconds before Simmons went back to counting, and Jax didn't know if he'd actually made a difference, but he fell asleep a lot easier.

Tired from fighting and still healing, Jax didn't wake up the next morning until he felt Washingtons hand shaking him softly, "If you don't get up, you're going to miss your breakfast," his voice didn't have the same tone of annoyance or disappointment it had had the other night, and Jax smiled a little at that as he woke up, but it didn't last long as opening his eyes proved a painful task with the bruising of the skin around them.  
"Morning" Jax mumbled as he got up, to find that not only was Washington in the room but waiting by the door was Sarge, holding a tray with a bowl on it, "Whats he doing here?" Jax raised an eyebrow, another painful mistake, not wanting to be rude, just curious.  
Wash answered, "Occasionally, to help improve skills and social abilities, we'll let other patients help with certain things, don't worry, we keep a close eye on them. besides, Sarge was practically begging to help this morning."  
"You can't get out of training just because of you're in solitary!" Sarge said, almost dropping the tray, which Washington took quickly. "Besides, you really proved yourself yesterday. It was wrong to attack a fellow soldier, but you have on hell of a punch!"  
Jax nodded, and Washington handed him his breakfast. "Maybe Sarge, we should let him eat before we start anything too much."  
The man nodded, "Of course! You can't work on an empty stomach. eat up soldier!" Jax smiled a little and took a bite of... he wasn't actually sure what he had in front of him, but it certainly didn't taste as good as the food upstairs, and there definitely wasn't enough of it for one person. Still, he ate.  
"Save a little. it'll help to wash down your medication." Wash advised and Jax was reminded of the pills, which if anything, would make him sick.

Finally, there were only a few spoonfuls left and Washington handed him two relatively small pills which made Jax's stomach turn just as badly as the terrible breakfast. "I have to stay here to make sure you've taken them," He said flatly, with a shrug and Jax took them from his hand slowly, before taking one and downing it with a mouthful of food and repeating the action again with the other.  
"See, that wasn't so bad" Washington smiled and took the empty bowl. "I'll see you down here for lunch" He nodded and Jax nodded back.  
"See you then."  
"Keep safe soldier!" Sarge soluted him and nodded before the door closed and once more he was left alone with Simmons, who hadn't moved an inch all morning and was still muttering to himself.

"...Did you sleep last night?" He asked curiously and didn't get a response, so he moved closer to the glass to try and figure out what he was saying. He sat only inches from the glass, assuming he would hear him counting again but heard :  
_'Bad thought: there's something growing in the room that will get into the water and contaminate everything. good thought... good thought... good thought...'_  
And as Simmons desperately searched his brain for a good thought, the door to his room opened and they both looked up to see Doctor Grif once more. The doctor walked into the room and sat next to Simmons, holding a tray similar to one Jax had just eaten from which he kept on his lap. Due to Simmons's binding because of the straight jacket, Jax wasn't surprised to see that Grif had to feed the man, and tried not to stare as the action happened to naturally, Grif giving him a hopeful look as he brought the spoon to his lips and letting Simmons take his time. Even with Simmons' reluctance to eat because of the room around him, he got him to down at least some of it. "There are only 4 nights left..." the doctor said but had no luck getting a response as he helped the man take a pair of pills strikingly similar to his own and standing up.  
The way the detained mad stayed sat made it seem like absolutely nothing had happened the past few minutes and the doctor looked away again walking to leave.  
"Wait!" Jax said and for a second it seemed like the doctor was going to ignore him before he turned.  
"Yeh?"  
"What about his legs?" although it seemed like Simmons wasn't listening, it was made obvious that he was because of the way he tensed when Jax spoke. Grif just shook his head.  
"Not while he's in here," and Jax was sure the man hated his job, it was made obvious by the emptiness of his voice as he spoke. Grif left silently and the doors were locked.  
Once more they were plunged back into silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, this was a little late because I got distracted playing Halo 3 after realising some of the rvb voice actors played a few easter egg parts. Also, my tablet ran out of charge half way through so I lost the whole chapter right after I had finished it. At least it's up now! even if it is technically a day late because it's past midnight at this point. Have an extra long chapter to make up for it.  
> What do you think anyway?


	7. Training Aka Caboose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:  
> OCD  
> Mistreatment  
> Enabling  
> Terrible editing because i'm tired af

**Name:** Michael J. Caboose  
 **Alias(s):** N/A  
 **Age:** 23  
 **D.O.B:** 16th September 1994  
 **Sex:** M  
 **Date of Admission:** 18th February 2014  
 **Initials and signature of guardian:** _E.G_  
 **Closest living relative:** N/A  
 **Reason for admission:** Referred to us by a previous institution, the patient has severe mental retardation and as a result of the combination of nobody in his family willing to care for him, and his inability to safely care for himself, leave him in our hands until he has been taught the ability at least keep himself safe from harm without constant supervision, at which point he will ideally be transferred to somewhere a little less specialist where he will gain more personal skills.  
 **Treatments:**  
Group therapy- Dr Grif (24th February, 2014)  
 **Report:**  
While the patient has a lot of accidents since his arrival, some of which do result in damage to himself or fellow patients, we have no reason to believe that he purposely caused harm to anybody and so until we have proof of intent to harm, his report is clear. However, as these incidents increase in frequency, punishments will be eventually put into place, should another patient ultimately become harmed by his antics.  
 _(Continue Reading)_  
 **Record:**  
This patient, like the others in the institution, is regarded as a special case and treated alone, once more like everybody else, in order to help him gain the necessary skills. however, unlike the other patients, he doesn't have a problem that can be 'cured' so to speak, just made a little less severe. Currently, we are working to help him focus on certain necessary skills in life, while he operates well under most social circumstances, he fails to notice danger to a point that endangers himself and others around him.  
We keep a constant eye on the patient, who seems to find himself in rather precarious situations, though how is still unknown to both himself and staff.  
With little treatment options available, we are lucky to find that the patient finds both support and comfort in the patients around him, including but not limited to, Leonard church, a more recent yet welcome arrival to the institution.  
 **Signed:** _David Washington. Dexter Grif. Emily Grey._

* * *

Jax wasn't sure if Simmons was asleep, or if he'd just passed out from sheer panic, anxiety and exhaustion but either way the man was quiet and completely unmoving, still curled up in the middle of his room, leaving Jax to be bored all alone until finally, lunch rolled around.  
He tried counting seconds as they passed but gave up around the 6th time he lost count and busied himself with picking slightly as the damaged walls and a small nap until he heard footsteps outside and expected to see Washington opening the door but instead, the small latch at the bottom of it was opened and in slid a tray with a small plate of food. Shortly after the same happened in the other man's cell, though either he didn't wake up, or just didn't acknowledge it. Jax was sure even if Simmons was awake, he wouldn't have the ability to feed himself anyway.  
Waiting a few minutes proved to do nothing, as the person- whom Jax couldn't identify- that had delivered their lunches was gone and so he went to look at the plate, which like most other things in the institution, was designed so one couldn't hurt themselves by breaking it.  
The food on it was an ugly colour and Jax really couldn't wait to be back upstairs and be eating properly, the thought of only having to spend one more night here was enough to lift his spirits as he ate, though quickly was plunged back into boredom.

The rest of the day passed slowly, and at some point later that night, just as Jax was falling asleep, he heard Simmons wake up, though didn't stay awake long enough to see how he was doing. Sure enough, the sleep was painful on a bed which was little more than thin foam on a slab of metal, and shortly after waking up Jax tried some of the yoga he'd learned to little avail. He would do his best to talk to doc later.

Breakfast was the same as it had been the day before and Jax was slightly happy to see another face that wasn't in constant fear again as Washington walked into his room. "How are you doing down here?" this time he was alone.  
"Let's just say I'm glad to get out of here today," Jax replied with a yawn as he was greeted with the same slop from the day before, accompanied by the same medication.  
"Yeah, you'll have you stay down here until lunch, but you will be back with the others in time for group therapy," he assured him, "That is assuming you have no plans to start anything else?"  
"Of course not." no matter what he said, he was sure Washington was going to be keeping a close eye on him.  
Once again Washington made sure Jax took his medication before taking the tray away.  
"Assuming you behave, I will see you at lunch." Wash nodded and left, it wasn't really like there was much Jax could do to misbehave here anyway.  
He looked up in time to see the door to Simmons' room close as well, assuming Grif had just left, though the sound of heels against the floor outside made him question that. Either way, Simmons stayed sat where he was and he was like that still as wash came down to collect him and take him back upstairs.

Jax was happy to be able to walk around somewhere that wasn't a tiny box room, and he felt like he hadn't used his legs for weeks, perfectly content stretching them. Wash walked him back up to the common room, where everybody was after just having their own lunch.  
Expecting nobody to want to come near him after the fight, he was rather surprised when doc immediately ran over and Wash left them alone. "Told Ya it was easier to get sent down there than you'd think" his face housed a 'told you so' grin and Jax just nodded. "I'll help you work out some of the knots in your back after therapy" He smiled  
"Not right now? My back is killing me."  
"Of course not! we need at least 15 minutes to stretch and it starts in 5!" he said, almost appalled before letting out a sigh that Jax was pretty sure was O'Malley.  
From across the room, he could practically feel sarges stare and was pretty sure whatever 'training' he had planned was going to make him wish he was back in solitary, but before he had a chance to try and hide from him they were all called together.

Like trained animals they all lined up, perhaps school children going to lunch was a better analogy but there was something about the whole thing that just didn't let it fit. Under the watchful eye of the doctors, they were led through the hall ways and to one of the cleaner rooms that Dylan and Jax had seen when they first arrived. It was fairly large and in it sat 8 chairs. Everybody seemed to automatically walk to one so Jax did the same and sat down looking around but was interrupted by a harsh female voice and a rough hand on his shoulder, "That's my chair." he turned to see a woman with tied back scarlet hair, and was obviously trying to hide the annoyance in her expression.  
"Oh... Sorry." He said and instantly stood up as she took her seat.  
"That is okay, you can have my seat!" An overly friendly voice called over, though very much unlike Emily Grey's voice, this one had an actual warmth to it and Jax looked over to see a tall, strong man with blond hair and a happy smile. Jax walked over and thanked him as he took the seat and the man sat on the floor next to him with his legs crossed. The school children analogy fit this situation perfectly.  
"You don't have to sit on the floor caboose. you can take Simmons' chair" Washington pointed out and Jax was fairly sure Grif was glaring at him but didn't have the courage to look over and see if his suspicions were true.  
'Caboose' assuming that was his real name, got up and grabbed the left over chair, moving it to sit down next to Jax who he smiled at happily.  
After everybody was settled down, they all looked over to Grif who was sat down, apart from Washington who had left them in the other doctor's hands to pursue other duties.   
After a few seconds of silence, Grif finally spoke up, "Everybody," he was either tired or really didn't want to be here, "You all know that dick won't be here today but, you also all know that someone new arrived a few days ago," all of their attention was drawn to Jax. Some people, like doc and caboose, seemed happy to have him there, a few others, like the woman who had kicked him out of his seat, did not. "So, why don't you introduce yourselves and say something about yourself?" aka Grifs method of distracting the patients so he didn't have to do any work.  
Doc was happy to stand up, "Hello everybody, my name is Frank, but you can all call me doc, and my favourite colour is purple!" he smiled and his example had caboose standing up next.  
"Hello everybody, my name is Michael caboose and I am an alcoholic."  
Jax turned to him a little confused, seeing Grif face palm and a man next to caboose take his wrist. "No, Michael, you're not. You're just supposed to be introducing yourself."  
"Oh. Hello everybody, my name is Michael caboose" he repeated, "and favourite colour is blue!" he said it with a happy enthusiasm that made Jax smile and he man sat next to him sigh.  
Michael sat down and they were plunged into silence for a minute or so.   
"who's next?" Grif sighed, and without a reply, he just looked to the person sat next to him, a man Jax had seen in the lunch hall.  
With a small sigh, the man stood up, "My name is Lavernious Tucker, and I really don't want to be here."  
"That's not fair" The scarlet haired woman stood up, "He stole my fact."  
"Yeah, mine too!" someone else stood up, the man next to caboose that Jax didn't recognise.  
"Yeh he stole mine too but if we don't do this I don't get paid and you all wind up in solitary for the next two weeks so shut up and think of something else!" Grif stood up now and everybody else sat down, keeping their gaze down. "so let's try this again."  
Lavernious stood up once more, "my name is Lavernious Tucker, and my favourite colour is also blue."  
"good" Grif nodded, and Tucker sat down.   
next to stand up was the man next to caboose who went by the name Leonard Church and then the red haired woman, aka, Carolina.  
"My name is Sarge! and you all be better for training after this!" finally there were only 2 people left. Jax and another blond haired man, who sat with his legs crossed, fanning himself with his hand.  
"Hello, my name is Franklin Donut and my favourite colour is lightish red" he smiled specifically to Jax before sitting down and finally it was just him to stand up.  
"Hello... my name is Jax Jonez. Um, my favourite colour is white?" he sat back down and once again there was silence.  
In the end, Jax had been surprised to find that Grif was almost completely right when he had said he didn't want to be there, as had the other patients. in fact, the only ones that spoke were Doc, Donut and Caboose while everybody else just sat there, sighed or slept, apart from sarge, who stayed sat straight, occasionally insulting the doctor for reasons unknown.  
"right shut up." Jax wasn't sure how long had passed but Grif stood up again, " the hour's up. leave."  
Everybody gladly did though Jax raised an eyebrow, and walking over to doc who was having a very animated conversation with Franklin.  
"Hey, doc?" both of them turned to him as they walked back to the common room. "is group therapy usually like that? there wasn't really much... therapy"  
"Not always" It wasn't doc that spoke, but the other man, who somehow, even though stuck inside the institution, had perfectly manicured nails. "but the doctor seemed really annoyed today."  
"do you know why?" it wasn't too difficult to guess with the constant death glare Jax received all through the session.  
"Because Simmons wasn't there probably. he usually organises everything and makes sure everything's going well."  
"But isn't he a patient?"  
"Yeah, but he can still help out. We all do"  
"Oh... I guess those two are really close"  
" **closer than you might think** "  
"hm?"  
"Come on Jax guys, if we don't hurry up, they're going to start without us!" Donut called and the conversation was dropped as they ran to the common room.

"come on dirtbags! on the double" They had only just gotten back there as Sarge shouted and almost everybody stood perfectly in the room. Unsure of what was happening, Jax followed caboose, wondering what was happening as Washington walked into the room and joined them.  
"Don't be too rough now Sarge." he smiled and took a seat so he could keep an eye on them.  
"whats happening?" Jax leaned over to his new 'friend'  
"Oh, sarge is putting us through training so we can beat the folks outside," He said as they all got down for pushups.  
"forks? you mean forces?"  
"No, I'm pretty sure he said forks. We're going to protect ourselves like knives used to protect castles and we have to defeat the folks outside"  
"I'm pretty sure you mean knights there."  
"I dunno..." caboose seemed to just shrug the whole thing off as he followed sarged commands and Jax internally wept as he found out that he could manage about 4 push ups before his arms gave in.  
"Kepp it up! you're never going to be able to protect your country like this you worthless maggots!" Sarge's shouting was enough to keep him going, in the end, it was pretty fun.  
Or it was for the first 20 minutes. Jax found himself getting increasingly tired, not expecting training so intense, by the time the hour was up, he could barely peel his body from the floor, sweat dripping down his body.  
"come on guys. back to your rooms" It was either Washington or Grif that said it, either way, Jax was trying to keep the room still. "Was it really that bad? You looked like you were having fun to me" a hand reached out to Jax and he took it, managing to stand up.  
"The first half of it was fine. I thought we'd get a break..." he looked up to wash's smile as he straightened his back.   
"don't worry, get some sleep and you'll be all good by the morning" They walked together back to Jax's room, making sure a few of the others were in theirs and the doors locked too. Finally, they got to Jax's room and the man happily jumped on the comfy bed he'd missed the past few nights. "Like I said, get some sleep. In the morning, we can talk about why you're really here."  
He found the energy to sit up and look over to him. "what?"  
"I'm not an idiot Jax. I want to know whats going on."  
Before he could ask another question, he was left alone in his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this is a day late, I know. By the time I was sitting down to write yesterday I was exhausted and only got half of it written so I left it that way you'd get a slightly better, not that is it really all that good right now anyway,- albeit slightly shorter- chapter. Also, I start college on Monday, so one or two day delays might happen, but I'm hoping to keep it pretty consistent.  
> Lastly, what do you think of the pacing of this story? Is it going too fast? Too slow? What do you want to see?  
> Please comment!


	8. Chapter 8

**Name:** Donut, Franklin Delano  
 **Alias(s):** N/A  
 **Age:** 27  
 **D.O.B:** April 17, 1988  
 **Sex:** M  
 **Date of Admission:** 10th November, 2013  
 **Initials and Signature of Guardian:** _E.G_  
 **Closest Living Relative:** N/A  
 **Reason for admission:**   
After a rather gruesome incident following the malfunctioning and destruction of a tanning bed, the patient was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that his frontal lobe had been severely damaged and during surgery, in order to save him, most, if not all, of his left frontal lobe was removed. Coming to a large range of issues, one of the largest was the patient's lack of fear response, resulting in a lack of caution, no sense of fear or self-consciousness, to the point where he can be vulgar without meaning to. In complete the incident makes it difficult for him to be left alone due to a lack of seeing a need to lock doors or windows or make sure appliances are turned off. With the only person who is willing to live with him under our care already, it has been recognised that this is the best place for him, though there is very little we as an institution can provide other than hospitality.  
 **Treatments:**  
Group Therapy- Dr Grif (19th November 2013, ongoing)  
 **Report:**  
9th September, 2014- Patient 'accidentally' set fire to the common room, claiming he didn't know tanning lotion was flammable, though all staff are completely unaware of how he managed to get hold of tanning lotion, as it is not something in the allowed categories of the institution. The result of the fire managed to burn a large portion of the room as well as panicking every patient in the facility, who, once the fire was successfully put out, were guided back to their rooms and given the individual care that was necessary. Due to the fact that nobody was hurt apart from a few, very minor, burns on the staff, the patient will go unpunished, though will be frequently checked for contraband items.  
16th April, 2015- Patient was found in possession of something labelled as 'Eros Vanilla Tasty Fruits Lubricant' which was quickly disposed of, for holding contraband and hiding it from staff members, the patient will spend the next 2 night in solitary and will be subjected to weekly room searches.  
(continue reading...)  
 **Record:**  
We have very little treatment to offer the patient here, however, since his arrival he does appear to be happier and try to help with the other patients quite a bit, we are also having fewer incidents as recorded on his report. He offers a lot of help when it comes to staff and is always first to volunteer when it comes to helping, especially with other patients. Despite its unneeded, he very willingly takes part in group therapy with the others and has been recorded to be a valuable asset.  
 **Signed:** _Dexter Grif. David Washington. Emily Grey._

* * *

 

"CODE RED! CODE RED DYLAN!"  
There was silence for a short while and Jax heard a sigh over his earpiece. "what is it now?" Apparently, Dylan was getting a little fed up with everything that appeared to be going wrong. "we don't have codes. I have no idea what code red means!"  
"That's probably good, code black sounds cooler anyway, remember that when you have to write a screenplay about my life because I'm going to die! One of the staff members, Washington, he knows! He knows there's nothing wrong with me. He wants to talk in the morning and find out why I'm really here! What do I say? What do I do?"  
"Well shouting about it in your room isn't going to help!" She growled back, "I told you to play your part right! Jesus... I'll come around in the morning and get you out, don't tell him anything... or tell him everything. I don't know, you know these people better than I do, so if you feel like this man will help, so what you want. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm leaving this in your hands, Jax. I can't find anything in these files anyway. It will be over soon enough. we've caught..."  
"You can't give up yet Dylan. There's something going on here, I know it! Something big. Just give me a few more days. You said you'd give anything for this story right?" He questioned, his eyes kept going back to the door as though somebody was going to walk in right then and there, despite the lateness of the night.  
"You're the one who was panicking! I'll give you three days starting tomorrow. I'll be watching the screens everything your camera picks up as it happens, if anything goes wrong, ill be there straight away."  
Jax nodded, "I promise to find something newsworthy"  
"Good, now get some sleep."

Jax nodded to himself as their mics cut off and he lay down, trying his best, and completely failing to get any kind of sleep. At some point in the night, he had been so tired that his eyes closed on their own, though in total, he got no more than a few hours sleep before he was woken up, as every morning, by Doctor Washington, who brought him his breakfast and made sure he took his medication. Neither of them said anything for a while, Jax being too scared to let a sound leave his mouth as he kept an eye on the doctor, finally, the other man spoke.  
"Don't look so terrified. You flinch every time I move, I'm not going to hit you. I'm not going to hurt you." he sighed and closed the door properly, Jax didn't know it was possible to lock them from the inside, not that he would be able to with lack of a key. "I really just want to know why your here. why you decided to stay here. Who comes here willingly? Why Jax?" He looked down at him with an expression that made Jax look away. It was tired, exhausted even, confused. Jax was given the opportunity to say whatever he wanted, knowing full well that Dylan was watching everything unfold.  
"..." The silence lasted to the point that he thought Wash was just going to walk out, but he didn't move, even when Grif knocked on the door telling him he needed his help in the common room, there was only silence, the two (or three if you count in the watching eyes of Dylan) of them alone. "...We wanted to expose this place." the words finally slipped from his mouth, though he still refused to look up at him. "We thought something was going on here, and we wanted to do a story on it thinking we'd get our jobs back, and the only way we thought we could get inside was if I pretended to be a patient."  
"...We? I assume the other person you're talking about is your 'Big Sister'." Washington wasn't sure what he had expected to hear from Jax, especially this. Once the camera man nodded, Wash sighed and thought for a second, his internal argument showing badly through his expression, "how much do you two know already? Just the town ghost stories or have you actually managed to find something incriminating."  
"Are you trying to say that there is something incriminating on these grounds?" Both Washington and Jax jumped as it was Dylan who was talking, her voice loud through Jax's earpiece. "If you know this place is terrible for the patients living here, why have you done nothing? Scared of getting fired? If you let us take your statement, we can have this place shut down forever unless you know you're behind everything going down here" She had the same voice on that she had when they were recording and she wanted to sound a little more 'official'.  
"I promise you, I'm not part of any problem here. And I advise you come and pick up your 'little brother' while you still can. You're not going to be able to stop anything if there even was anything going on here. I won't get in the way of your 'investigation' but you're not going to find anything. Just don't get in the way of the other patients. Some of them are trying to get better here. Like Simmons! Whats your excuse for him?"   
"I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand..." Jax murmured, "I just wanted to play my part properly and get a better look at this place, like inside solitary. I really didn't mean to hurt him."  
"Your help can shut this place down!" Dylan interjected again, "you've been with these patients for almost 10 years, I read it on your file, don't you care about them at all? You got into this to help them, and you're causing them to keep going through this, why?"  
"please help us Wash. If there's anything going on here, you know how to help up stop it..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so now that I'm at college, just like this chapter it's probably going to be a few days in between chapters. There will at least be 2 updates a week, probably on Wednesday and either Saturday or Sunday because those are the days I'm home. Possibly a few random updates as well as every couple of weeks but I can't be sure yet.  
> Thanks for being patient with me and I hope you liked this crappy chapter, even though it was a very, very short one.

**Author's Note:**

> Well... i hope you liked it.... please comment and please be nice...


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